No. 9 MBB Handles Northwestern State, 91-40

Saturday, December 2

Waco, Texas

5 pm

Baylor

8-0,0-0Big 12

Northwestern State

1-7,0-0Southland

Northwestern St.

Baylor

No. 9 MBB Handles Northwestern State, 91-40

12/2/2023 7:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Missi records double-double as Bears cruise past Demons

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – As 7-foot, shot-blocking freshman Yves Missi swatted away one shot after another in practice, Scott Drew admits that his defensive presence affected the rest of the Baylor players.

On Saturday, it was the visiting Northwestern State Demons that got Missi-fied.

Recording his second double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Missi also had four of ninth-ranked Baylor's nine blocks in a dominant 91-40 blowout victory before a Ferrell Center crowd of 8,432.

"After a while, you get your shot blocked a couple times, and now people aren't taking layups and aren't going in there," Drew said. "That's the great thing about a shot-blocker is it's their blocks but also how many shots they alter and how many shots they make not take."

Missi was the centerpiece of a stifling defense by Baylor (8-0) that held Northwestern State (1-7) to 25% shooting overall – the lowest by an opponent this season – and 5-of-24 from 3-point range. The Demons' 14 first-half points were the second-fewest in the Big 12 era (since 1996-97).

"I feel like the more we play, the more games, we get more connection between each other," Missi said. "(The stats are) saying that we held them to 25% field goal shooting, so we're just getting better every time. Hopefully, next game we reach another goal and (hold them to) less than 25 (percent)."

First-year Northwestern State coach Rick Cabrera compared Baylor's size and athleticism to a 2012 Kentucky team led by 6-10 freshman Anthony Davis that won the national championship.

"When I was at Chattanooga, we went into Rupp and played Kentucky with Anthony Davis," Cabrera said. "That's the closest of a team that I've seen in all my years in Division I in regard to size. I couldn't even get mad at my guys. I was focused on them. . . . That's a team that could win a national championship. They have NBA size and NBA talent at every position."

As good as the Bears were defensively, Drew wasn't ready to put them on the same pedestal with the 2021 national championship team that included National Defensive Player of the Year Davion Mitchell, a finalist in Mark Vital and a top-15 pick in Jared Butler.

"That's three defensive players of the year. That's hard to beat," Drew said. "I love how this team plays hard, competes. We just have to do it all the time. This has to be the standard, and it can't be the exception. Now, if we do this the rest of the season, then the answer is yes. Because (holding them to) 25%, that's remarkable."

Scoring on each of its first eight possessions, including the first of Jalen Bridges' four 3-pointers, Baylor jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first five minutes. And then, Jayden Nunn had a three-point play to kick off a 17-2 run that blew the game wide open.

Bridges became the fifth different player to lead the team in scoring, pumping in 16 points and matching his season highs with eight rebounds and two blocks. RayJ Dennis added 14 points and six assists, while freshman Ja'Kobe Walter had 10 points and matched his season high with four steals.

"First and foremost, just thank my teammates, because they're the ones who are passing me the ball or setting screens to get me open shots," said Bridges, who is 13-of-22 (59%) from 3-point range over the last five games. "When I see one go in, I just keep letting it fly."

Bridges also turned in one of the most impressive plays of the night when he blocked a perimeter jumper by the Demons' Braelon Bush, then chased the ball down and threw it off of Bush before jumping over the Champions Row seats.

"I was surprised he tried to shoot it in my face," Bridges said. "So, I kind of knew I was going to block it. He tried to block me out, so I kind of knew he wasn't going to go for the ball. I did a little swim move and then saved the ball, threw it off him. I didn't even know if I actually hit him. I had to turn around because I was jumping into the fans. And yeah, that was really it."

With the Demons shooting a dismal 17.2% overall and 1-for-11 from outside the arc, Baylor had a commanding 40-14 lead at the break. Dantwan Grimes hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap off a 15-1 second-half run that pushed the lead out to 76-31.

Grimes and Nunn scored nine points apiece, while Caleb Lohner had six points and a season-high seven rebounds. Eleven of Baylor's 12 players scored in the game, with fan-favorite walk-on Austin Sacks missing his only shot attempt.

On the team's selfless ability to make the extra pass, Drew said, "First of all, you have to bring in guys who can pass, dribble and shoot, because you can't teach them that in a couple of months."

"They have to have a feel, they have to have that skill," Drew said. "But then, they also have to have the character to play for others. Especially in games like this . . . you see guys press, they take bad shots. Even Austin – Austin could have tried to get a shot up, and he hits Caleb cross-court and Caleb gets an and-one. So, everybody playing the right way."

Sophomore Jimel Lane was the only double-figure scorer for Northwestern State with 10 points, adding three rebounds and two blocks. Baylor dominated the boards, 51-22, scoring 17 points off 14 offensive rebounds.

Completing a three-game homestand, the Bears will face Seton Hall (5-2) in the Big East/Big 12 Battle at 8 p.m. Tuesday with a chance to win its 400^th game at the 35-year-old Ferrell Center. That's the first of three-straight marquee games, with Baylor facing Michigan State on Dec. 14 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and seventh-ranked Duke (5-3) on Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden.

"I think this next stretch will show us what we need to get better on for Big 12 play," Drew said. "Obviously, you'd rather learn through wins than losses. But the next stretch, you've got a Big East, a Big Ten, an ACC team. That should tell us where we need to be and what we need to focus on before we get into the grind of the (Big) 12."